Life in a Magdalene institution around the world

Haunting images show children raised in cruel orphanages around the world 'as punishment for their mothers' sins' 

• Images show the everyday life at Magdalene Laundries around the world through the early 1900s

• The establishments were set-up to house 'fallen women', who had children out of wedlock

• Many former occupants of homes have spoken out about the abuse they suffered at the laundries

• Named after the Bible's Mary Magdalene, the homes were used to reform so-called 'fallen women' 

• They expanded to take in girls who were considered 'promiscuous', unmarried mothers, the criminal, mentally unwell and girls who were seen as a burden on their families

Eerie photos from Magdalene Laundries around the world show children eating dinner as nuns watch over them and young women working on heavy equipment.

The images give an insight into life inside the laundries, which were places for women branded 'undesirable' by the church and orphaned children, where untold horrors are said to have taken place.

The establishments were set-up to house 'fallen women', a term that was used to imply female sexual promiscuity, when in reality they were women who had children out of wedlock.

These institutions, also known as Magdalene asylums, have sparked great controversy, only this month a mass septic tank containing the skeletons of 800 babies was found in County Galway, Ireland. 

Images from Magdalene Laundries from around the world show what everyday life looked like in the homes across the world. Pictured above, small children wait to be immunised at a laundry called Nidgee Orphanage in Brisbane, Australia in 1928

Named after the Bible's Mary Magdalene, the workhouses were used to 'reform' so-called 'fallen women'. Pictured above, nuns cared for dozens of children at the Bessborough Mother and Baby home in Ireland

Magdalene Laundries around the world, show children eating dinner as nuns watch over and young women working on heavy equipment (pictured above)

Some Magdalene Laundries, including the one pictured above in Montreal, Canada, had nurseries full of rows of cribs to house dozens of babies

In some laundries, including the Dalwood Children's Home in Seaforth, New South Wales, appeared to construct cribs out of the same material used to make chain-link fences

The dead babies are thought to have been secretly buried beside a home for single mothers and their children over a period of 36 years, ending in the 1960s. 

In another case, it is suspected that 796 children were interred on unconsecrated ground without headstones or coffins next to the home run by the Bon Secours nuns in Tuam between 1925 and 1961.

Reports show that they suffered malnutrition and neglect, which caused the deaths of many, while others died of measles, convulsions, TB, gastroenteritis and pneumonia.

The babies were usually buried in a plain shroud without a coffin in a plot that had housed a water tank attached to the workhouse that preceded the mother and child home. 

Many former occupants of homes have spoken out of the abuse they suffered, including Irish woman Kathleen Legg whose nightmare of being in the 'care' of nuns still haunts her. 

The establishments, like the Sean Ross Abbey mother and baby home in Tipperary, Ireland (pictured above), were set-up to house 'fallen women', a term that was used to imply female sexual promiscuity, when in reality they were women who had children out of wedlock

The institutions (like the one pictured above in London) have sparked great controversy, only this month a mass septic tank containing the skeletons of 800 babies was found in County Galway, Ireland

Nuns housed dozens of children at a time, feeding them at their own small tables and chairs in the homes, like the Sean Ross Abbey mother and baby home in Tipperary, Ireland, pictured above

At a Magdalene Asylum in Brighton, Victoria, in Australia, children appeared to stand and pray before eating a meal in a scene from 1920 (pictured above)

Many former occupants of homes have spoken out of the abuse they suffered, including Irish woman Kathleen Legg whose nightmare of being in the 'care' of nuns still haunts her

Named after the Bible's redeemed prostitute, Mary Magdalene, the workhouses were used to reform 'fallen women' and their children. Pictured above, Far West Children's Home in Manlym, New South Wales, Australia

ORPHANS, UNWED MOTHERS AND THE MENTALLY ILL: LIFE AND DEATH IN MAGDALENE LAUNDRIES

The Magdalene Laundries were institutions, generally run by Catholic religious organisations that operated for more than 200 years from the 18th century to the late 20th Century.

The laundries, depicted in the award-winning film 'The Magdalene Sisters', put 10,000 women and girls as young as nine through uncompromising hardship from the foundation of the Irish state in 1922 until 1996.

Run by Catholic nuns, the laundries have been accused of treating inmates like slaves, imposing a regime of fear and prayer on girls sometimes put in their care for becoming pregnant outside marriage.

They were established to house unmarried mothers, but later expanded to house girls who were considered 'promiscuous', the criminal, mentally unwell and girls who were seen as a burden on their families.

Former inmates spoke instead of physically demanding work, enforced by scoldings and humiliation, at the laundries that operated on a commercial basis to wash linen and clothes for the state, private firms and individuals.

An estimated 30,000 women were confined in these institutions in Ireland.  

The infant mortality rate at Church-run institutions was significantly higher than in wider Irish society, and it is likely that other unmarked mass graves will be discovered.

Earlier this month, a mass septic tank containing the skeletons of 800 babies was found in County Galway, Ireland.

Death certificates mostly blame infections like measles, gastroenteritis, bronchitis, tuberculosis, meningitis and pneumonia, but nobody has established why children were so much more likely to die than in the general population.

In the past, Ireland's strict Catholic morality made it deeply shameful to become pregnant before marriage, and women would be rejected by their families and society as sinful.

The power of the Church and the stigma associated with unmarried mothers were so overwhelming that for decades the harsh treatment of these women and their children were taboo subjects, and many were forgotten.

While the Magdaline Laundries were especially prevalent in Ireland, there were also homes across Australia, Canada and England. 

In Australia, girls faced verbal abuse, long hours of work and long hours of silence in the convents. Women were often injured while working with hard machinery and faced dangers of spreading diseases.

In Canada, a network of asylums housed women without public funding. By the late 1800s in England, many laundries had resembled penitentiary work houses.

Speaking in 2015 she said: 'The memories are still there. There are some things you can't block out. Until the day I die, it will be with me.'

Named after the Bible's redeemed prostitute, Mary Magdalene, the workhouses were used to reform 'fallen women'. 

But they soon expanded to take in girls who were considered 'promiscuous', unmarried mothers, the criminal, mentally unwell and girls who were seen as a burden on their families.

Kathleen recalled some of the work she was forced to do: 'There were great big heavy rollers. 

The sheets would be red hot. It would be the work of an adult man. I was up at six in the morning and every time the bell rang you went where you were told to go.

The Laundries soon expanded to take in girls who were considered 'promiscuous', unmarried mothers, the criminal, mentally unwell and girls who were seen as a burden on their families. Pictured above, children at a laundry in St Vincent De Paul Creche, Canada

Many women had to work while at the laundries, with some of the jobs being 'the work of an adult man', Irish woman Kathleen Legg, who used to live in one of the homes claims. Pictured above, a Magdalene Laundry in Melbourne, Australia

At her laundry, women would have to be up at 6am for work each day, and a bell rang to tell them where to go and when, Legg said. Pictured above, girls make their beds at the Dalwood Children's Home in Seaforth, New South Wales, Australia, in 1930

Legg claimed that there was no calendar at the home, so women did not know how old they were and did not celebrate their own or their children's birthdays. Pictured above, infants at Bessborough Mother and Baby home in Ireland

Run by Catholic nuns, the laundries have been accused of treating inmates like slaves, imposing a regime of fear and prayer on girls sometimes put in their care for becoming pregnant outside marriage. Pictured above, women fold sheets at St Mary's Training School in Dublin, Ireland

At the Castledare Boys Home in Cannington, Western Australia, young boys make their  beds in a room that held dozens of boys in rows and rows of beds

'I didn't know how old I was. There were no mirrors and birthdays were never celebrated.'

Rather than getting an education, once she entered the convent Kathleen was stripped naked and given a uniform, she wouldn't see another classroom for four years.

She said: 'For the next four years I would scrub, polish and clean every inch of that building, working long hours in the laundry. I had my name changed and I was known as number 27.

'All the time I was there I had little to very basic food. In fact it was dismal and how we survived I'll never know. I was constantly hungry and on the verge of starving.

'The nuns treated me and indeed others in there as slaves.'

Other survivors share the same stories of having their name changed on arrival and of constantly washing laundry in cold water, of using heavy irons for hours, of being forbidden to form close friendships and never feeling free to leave.

Worked to the bone, starved, beaten and abused, women reported frequent injuries caused by handling the huge mangles, a precursor to the spin dryer 

Others have spoken about trying to escape but being unable to scale the high walls, often topped with glass.

Former inmates spoke instead of physically demanding work, enforced by scoldings and humiliation, at the laundries that operated on a commercial basis to wash linen and clothes for the state, private firms and individuals. In a dining room at Newcastle Girls Home in New South Wales, Australia, in 1938, young children ate at a different table than the older girls and women

The infant mortality rate at Church-run institutions was significantly higher than in wider society in Ireland. In some larger homes, like the Salvation Army Boys Home in New South Wales, Australia, boys had to wear what appeared to be uniforms as they ate meals at round tables

Death certificates mostly blame infections like measles, gastroenteritis, bronchitis, tuberculosis, meningitis and pneumonia, but nobody has established why children were so much more likely to die than in the general population. Boys would sleep just metres from one another in rows of beds in dormitories in Castledare Boys Home in Cannington, Western Australia

The power of the Church and the stigma associated with unmarried mothers were so overwhelming that for decades the harsh treatment of these women and their children were taboo subjects, and many were forgotten. At a Magdalene Laundry in Dublin, Ireland, young women and girls worked together during grueling work hours that started early in the morning

At the Sean Ross Abbey mother and baby home in Tipperary, Ireland, women brought children outside in cribs so they could get some fresh air. Children regularly died of measles in homes as there were no antibiotics and whooping cough was endemic

By Kelly Mc Loughlan

Magdalene Laundries: Dodging liability is still the name of the game

FEW people will forget the apology offered by Taoiseach Enda Kenny in February of 2013 on behalf of the State to the women who suffered in the Magdalene Laundries.

He spoke of a “nation’s shame” and of women taking the country’s terrible secret and making it their own.

“But from this moment on you need carry it no more. Because today we take it back. Today we acknowledge the role of the State in your ordeal,” he said.

However, less than two years earlier in June 2011, many members of his Cabinet were determined to distance the State as far as possible from any liability.

A series of cabinet observations on a Department of Justice memorandum for Government seeking permission for the establishment of what eventually became the McAleese Committee reveal a Cabinet concerned about three things — not conceding on the issue of that State liability, calls for further inquiries into issues like Mother and Baby Homes and foster care settings and avoiding a redress bill.

The memorandum seeks approval for the establishment of an inter- departmental committee (later the McAleese Committee) as well as the issuing of a letter to the religious orders providing them with a copy of the November 2010 Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) assessment of human rights issues arising in relation to the Magadalene Laundries and the observations of the UN Committee against Torture (UNCAT) and inviting them to make their records available and to enter a restorative justice process with former residents.

Observations provided by a number of ministers express concerns about redress, admitting State liability and, notably, that an investigation into Magdalene Laundries may lead to calls for inquiries into other related issues and instititions like Mother and Baby Homes, psychiatric hospitals and foster care settings.

The observations of then Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn state that while he supported the approach outlined in the Memorandum, he noted “that there may be demands for enquiries into other situations”.

“Following the publication of the Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (the Ryan Report), there were renewed demands for the Redress Scheme to be extended to include other institutions, such as Magdalene Laundries, mother and baby homes, psychiatric hospitals and foster care settings.

“The Government decided against any extension of the arrangments and the Department for Education and skills has circulated a draft Memorandum for Government for observations, which deals inter alia, with the winding-up of the Residential Institutions Redress Board.”

This possibility of demands for other inquiries is noted by then Justice Minister Alan Shatter who states that and his proposal “only deals with the issue of Magdalene insititutions”.

The issue of financial redress is also front and centre in the Ministerial observations.

Mr Shatter is recorded as being “conscious” of the Minister of Finance Michael Noonan’s view that the proposals in the memorandum “would very likely generate pressure for opening up redress.”

However, then minister for public expenditure Brendan Howlin goes even further stating that it should be made clear that no redress would be paid to women, even if the State is found liable.

“In the circumstances the minister accepts the proposals in the memorandum. However, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform considers that the issue of possible financial or other redress supported by the Government must also be considered in advance of the measures in the memorandum.

“If this is not done, it is likely that there will be strong immediate public pressure for an agreement in principle to financial redress, which may lead to an open-ended commitment for the Government.

“In view of the severe constraints on public expenditure, the minister proposes that the Government make clear in the press release that it does not have the resources to allow for the establishment of redress measures should they be appropriate in this case.”

The importance of not conceding on the issue of the State’s liability in relation to inspection of the laundries was stressed in the observations of then minister for jobs enterprise and employment Richard Bruton.

“The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation wishes to point out that, whether under employment rights or health and safety codes, there neither was, nor is there now any obligation on the State to inspect every workplace. It is clear that the State does not have the resources to inspect every workplace.

“The minister recalls that, in another context, the ex-miners compensation issue, his department was advised by the Attorney General, that the mere fact that statutory regulation exists in relation to a sector does not , of itself, impose any duty of care on the State in relation to the employees of that sector.

“The minister believes that great care should be taken to ensure that this fundamental principle is not conceded by any action or statement of the Government on this issue.”

Mr Bruton also noted “the absence of evidence to support the claims made and no formal complaints have been made to the gardaí.”

“This strongly suggests that it would be unwise, in this case, to depart from the principle that the State is not responsible for alleged tortuous acts by third parties for whom it does not have responsibilities,” state his observations.

The lengthiest observations, however, were provided by the Office of the Attorney General which stressed the “limitations” of the proposed independent committee given its lack of any powers to compel witnesses or procure documents.

“It will need to exercise great care not to make any finding that could reflect on the good name of any person affected. It will not be in a position to make findings in terms of liability, causation, or culpability. These factors will be important in managing the expectations of interested parties.”

The Attorney General also stressed the need to address the possibilty that the planned independent committee may not be seen as objective and that this was an important issue in terms of the “management of expectations”.

“Furthermore, while it is the case that the committee and its work might be perceived as a serious and detailed response by the State, chaired as it will be by an “independent” chairman, we are concerned as to whether it will actually be regarded as ‘objective’ or ‘at arms length’ from any State involvement.”

While these are matters of policy for the department (and indeed for the Government as a whole), this also is an important issue as regards management of expectations. Failure to address these issues can lead to pressure for statutory inquiries and for redress.

The Attorney General also advised the Government that the religious orders were “likely to be suspicious” of any overtures by the State on Magdalene Laundries and that their attitude from a legal perspective “may be robust”.

“The congregations have in the past brought litigation in relation to fair procedures and to protect and vindicate the names of their members and to protect the good names of their congregations as a whole.

“They have both at meetings and in the media felt that they felt ‘bounced’ by the State into redress in respect of residential childhood abuse,” states the AG advice.

On the issue of redress specifically, the AG’s office states that the proposals contained in the memorandum would “very likely generate pressure for opening up redress”.

“We note from the terms of the Memorandum, that to date no form of oppression has been proven against the congregations who ran the Magdalene Laundries. As the department itself comments, the IHRC Report is full of supposition and qualifcations. It falls short of making any factual findings.”

This rather negative view of the November 2010 Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) report on the Magdalene laundries taken by the Office of the Attorney General is mirrored by then justice minister Alan Shatter who is recorded as having “serious reservations about the methodology, accuracy and conclusions” of the report.

“The IHRC report is effectively based on allegations put forward by JFM and no effort was made to obtain clarification, information or observations from the State or (apparently) the relevant religious orders on any of the issues raised.”

It is noted that the women involved “have apparently chosen not to make any complaints to the gardaí or to pursue a civil action”.

“There is an underlying presumption that any inquiry will confirm that there were serious abuses and that the State responsibility rather than the religious orders should provide redress.”

Conall Ó Fátharta.

Post famine photos show how merciless British landlords were

Police use a battering ram to forcibly evict a tenant c. 1888. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND

The Irish Land War was an organized campaign of civil unrest in Ireland that lasted from the 1870s until the 1890s. It was called a 'war,' and there were violent incidents and deaths during the campaign, but the Land War, led by the Irish National Land League, was essentially a non-violent movement of tenant farmers with the aim of resisting the landlords' efforts, backed by the British government, to evict tenant farmers who were struggling the pay the ever increasing rents.

Still struggling to recover in the aftermath of the Great Hunger in the 1840s, these poor tenant farmers were often exploited by landlords, especially by “absentee landlords,” those landlords who lived outside of Ireland, who raised rents without regard to what the farmer could pay or what the land could bear.

The eviction of Thomas Considine at Moyasta, County Clare. IMAGE: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND.

Evictions were widespread. The Land League organized resistance movements throughout the country hoping to reduce rents and to put an end to the threat of eviction facing many of Ireland's tenant farmers. When nothing more could be done to stop an eviction, however, tenants often took to barricading their cottages and taking up an odd assortment of arms in an effort to prevent police removing them.

Police shield themselves against hot water thrown by tenants while carrying out an eviction. IMAGE: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND

The images here are from the National Library of Ireland and were taken around 1888. They show some of the efforts by tenants to protect their homes, while police took up battering rams to remove their protections.

Constables surround the home of boatbuilder Francis Tully on land owned by the Marquis of Clanricarde at Woodford, County Galway. IMAGE: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND

With thorny bushes placed in windows and doors to prevent armed police and British soldiers from entering, boiling water and cow dung was fired at them by tenants to warn them away when they came with an eviction order.

A building in Mitchelstown bears an anti-eviction banner and has its windows barricaded with brush to repel attacks. IMAGE: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND

Although the number of evictions never reached the same levels as they did during the famine, some 100,000 families were left in rent arrears due to the economic situation in the country by 1879. Thanks to the work of the National Land League and the Ladies Land League, a movement numbering approximately 200,000 people helped prevent of the disastrous total of evictions from the famine years was avoided in the late 1870a.

A laborer's family outside their temporary turf hut after being evicted from their home. IMAGE: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND

This was achieved by drawing attention to specific cases of eviction and placing national pressure on the landlords trying to remove tenants from their homes. One of the most high-profile of these led to the introduction of the concept of a “boycott” to the English-speaking part of the world. In 1881, landlord Captain Charles Boycott was ostracized by the local community in south Co. Mayo in what became one of the most effective methods of campaigning by tenants.

The scene before an eviction in County Clare. A disassembled battering ram is brought in on a horse cart. IMAGE: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND

Not every family was as lucky. Speaking about an eviction in Tuly in 1888, William Henry Hurlbert stated, “Two constables were burned by the red-hot pikes, the gun of another was broken to pieces by a huge stone, and a fourth was slightly wounded by a fork.”

A battering ram is used to breach a farmer's home. IMAGE: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND

“On the morning of the eviction we were up at the break of day and laid our plans, each to defend a certain point and none to waiver, whatever might come,” said Frank O'Halloran of his family’s eviction in 1887.

IMAGE: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND

“We boiled plenty of water and meal, and, when all was ready, we kept a look-out for the bailiffs and the rest of them. At this time I was only home a few months from America, and during my absence, I may add, I did not learn to love Irish landlordism or English rule.

Mathias McGrath's home in Moyasta, County Clare after destruction by a battering ram. IMAGE: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND

“I got a big pole: there was a policeman at the top of the ladder; I put it to his chest, pushed him into an upright position. The policeman behind him pressed him on, while the crowd yelled, wild with delight. I shoved harder and he fell to the ground, amidst deafening cheers and shouts. Others pressed on, to meet the same fate.”

The scene at the eviction of Thomas Birmingham in Moyasta, County Clare. IMAGE: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND

By Francis Mulraney

Photo Minute: Hey, who's sleeping in my bed??